Slate-coloured Boubou

Laniarius funebris

Other Names

    Gonolek ardoisé   Trauerwürger         Bubu ardesia

World: Africa - endemic to the E and NE from Tanzania, Uganda, Kenya as far N as S Sudan, E Ethiopia and Somalia.

Kenya: Common bird of dense, dry bush habitats below 2000m.

Although this is a common bird it is shy and can be difficult to see and photograph. It is an entirely dark slate-grey bird with a typical shrike-type bill. It skulks either singly or in pairs in the undergrowth but does tend to be noisy. Within the National Parks and Reserves it has become slightly more confiding and will come out into the open a bit more readily (as with the bird pictures above which was in a small clearing by the gate of Tsavo East National Park.